Ironic Though it Seemed
by ringspell
Summary: SECOND CHAPTER! Sequal to Hope We Meet Again. Arwen returns to find that the now 12 year old Estel has changed in every aspect. He has a new attitude, a new idol, a new hair style, and a new tutor who is trying to teach him the arts of mirror-gazing....
1. Returning to Rivendell

Author's note: So Arwen has saved her mother and she has come back to Rivendell to find that Estel is a very different boy than the one that she left. This story has a lot more of Galadriel in it so beware! May I also inform you beforehand that I wrote this completely for entertainment purposes and frequently you will find technical errors in my work, such as the fact that elves cannot get sleepy and that Middle-Earth probably doesn't have a rock band called The Weasles, or any other name for that matter. Rest assured I know that these things are not true and look more at the humor content and exposition for reviews. Thank you!

Ironic Though it Seemed: Home Again

As Arwen caught the first sound of the waterfall in Imladris she felt as though she had left there only yesterday. In an Elven sense she probably had. Those few years were nothing compared to her total age of 2702. The past five years had passed quickly, in a blur. Not, however, without the administration of pain on both sides of the confrontation. True, Arwen and her brothers Elladan and Elrohir had hunted down the party of orcs holding their mother captive and she now rode beside then, speaking merrily as though it had never happened. But as she spoke she frequently rubbed the poisoned wound on her shoulder, though it was already closed and nearly healed, and there was a shadow behind her eyes. Elladan and Elrohir had already left them, determined to kill any other orcs they came across to avenge this injury and Celebrian was left in the care of her daughter, who was telling her of a charming little boy that awaited them in Rivendell.

"Well, the first few days were bloody Mordor! He was so obnoxious and inappropriate I thought facing Grandma Galadriel in Lorien would have been better."

"Oh, my. That is bad," Celebrian said.

"Oh it was! Anyway, after the first few days I found that he was really quite sweet! Of course, that very next morning I had to depart. He wished to come help save you, quite a noble offer for one of his age. It pained me to leave him after such a short acquaintance. But no doubt this time he will not need time to warm to me and I should have no more similar problems. And he shall be older and, to a degree, more mature. He'll be twelve by now. He might need a week to get used to you, though. I will warn you now."

"Thank you, love. I'll keep that in mind. But, oh, it is good to be home. Look how the gardens shine!"

And indeed as they approached the gardens the bright colored flowers seemed to give them a glow, nearly outdoing that of the sun high over their heads. Arwen smiled as she saw the stairs to her father's house. She remembered very well the day that Estel had jumped on her back thinking she was an enemy intruder, smashing her into the pavement. She inwardly sighed of relief. There would be no more of that nonsense-

"Sheeze Louise, Lady Arwen, took you long enough!"

Arwen heard the scream at just about the same time she felt a heavy person fall on top of her back. Her horse reared, startled by the sudden weight increase, and both Arwen and Estel went flying off of its back. Arwen landed seat first on Estel's stomach, who grunted and brandished his arms.

"Sweet little boy, hu?" Celebrian laughed.

"You need to lose a few pounds, Lady Arwen! Get off of me!" Estel cried. Arwen stood and spun around to survey the preteen she had been sitting on. He was much larger than he'd been five years ago, with more muscle in his arms and legs and sharper features in his face. Her hope that he'd be maturer vanished. A clumpy purple mixture covered his face in a war-like fashion. She wouldn't have been surprised to find his room in the same state it had been before, filled with plastic swords and shields. As he stood he glared at her with eyes much darker than they had been before.

"Well, that's a lovely welcome, Estel."

"That's Lord Estel to you, Ma-dumb."

Arwen stood her tallest, but Estel nearly equaled her height and there was little chance of intimidating him. "Since when have you deserved a title of such high superiority?"

"Since I said I did," Estel said, smiling and puffing out his chest. But his smile vanished when he heard a dreaded voice behind him.

"Estel!" Galadriel thundered, "What are you doing out here!"

"It's Lord Estel," he said under his breath.

"I thought I told you to wash that disgusting mixture off of your face! It looks positively dreadful!"

"Awww, Miss Galadriel! It's nothing but bilberry juice. It's my war paint. It will was off-owowowowowow!" Galadriel took a hold of his ear and dragged him up the stairs.

"You heard me, young man! It makes no difference to me that it is bilberry juice! You shouldn't be putting beverages on your face anyway. Now come on, I am going to watch you clean it off. Now go on, up to the washroom!

The two disappeared through the doorway. Arwen looked at her mother and they both burst into laughter. Even the egocentric Estel could not overpower the cleanliness-obsessed Galadriel. But they stifled their laughter when Galadriel stuck her head out the door.

"By the way, lovely to see you, darlings! I'm so happy to see you are safe, my daughter. I've been waiting here in Rivendell for your return!" Estel peeked his head through the space between her arm and the doorway.

"Yeah," he said, "And we didn't even invite her."

"Estel!" she yelled and grabbed his ear again. "By the way, darlings, your faces are rather grimy from your journey. After I've seen to Estel, why don't you come up to my room and I'll get you some of my special Lothlorien facial cleanser!" Then she turned and dragged the whining boy to the washroom.

*I know, not much for the first chapter. But just keep this in mind. I have written only 3chapters in _Ironic Though it Seemed_ so far (Though I have not posted them all, obviously) and it is already over 3 pages longer than my 5 chapter long _Hope We Meet Again_. And there are at least 4 more chapters coming. Hope you liked it!


	2. Elrond's Sickness

*I know, I know, I took forever to post this.  I'm sorry!  School work is keeping me busy!*

Chapter 2 Ironic Though it Seemed

            Arwen and Celebrian were surprised not to find Elrond anywhere near the dining hall, guest house, or the Hall of Fire.

            "I suppose we'll see him during supper," Arwen said, shrugging.  "Come!  Let us go to your room.  You look as though you could use some rest."  They were greeted by an explosive sneeze when they opened the door.  There in the double bed sat Elrond, his cheeks and nose red.  Used Kleenexes littered the floor, the waste basket far past full.  He sneezed again and going into a fit of coughing, he looked up and noticed them.  His coughing stopped immediately.

            "Arwen!" he cried, "My love, my star, my sweet, my world, my heart, my joy, my life, my light, my…uh." His voice faltered at the glare from Celebrian.  "Oh," he said, "Hello Celebrian my, uh, wife."

            "I'll do you a courtesy and believe that you are so happy to see me safe that you are tongue-tied with relief," Celebrian said acidly, and bent to kiss him.  But then she withdrew.  "Oh, I oughtn't," she said, "I'll catch your cold."

            Elrond smiled and giggled in a childlike way.  "Oh, this?  Yes, I do look rather sick, don't I?" he said craftily, "You needn't worry.  It is nothing but a pretense so I don't have to deal with Galadriel.  I'm a convincing actor, am I not?  And this blush really does the trick!" he said, patting his cheeks.  "I've been doing this for days since I'm so fed up with her.  She is a pain indeed!  I mean-"  He looked quickly at Celebrian.

            "Forgiven," she sighed, "Believe me I understand after living with her for four thousand years."  She closed her eyes, shaking her head at an unpleasant memory.  She turned to look at her daughter.

            "Arwen, could you perhaps show me a room that I could sleep in, since my poor, deathly sick husband should probably be left alone?"

            "Sure, you can have Elledan's room for now.  He keeps is decent enough and I am guessing he will not be back for a while.  Arwen helped her mother up the stairs to the room where she insisted she laid down on the bed.  Celebrian argued, but seemed relived to rest after finally yielding.

            "Sleep a bit Mother," Arwen said, "I'll come and wake you when supper is ready.  You have not yet fully healed from your wound.  Until then I will make sure no one disturbs you."

            "Thank you love," Celebrian said, slipping into unconsciousness.

            Arwen nearly collided with Galadriel as she was leaving.

            "Darling, here's the face cleanser.  Excuse me, I must give some to Celebrian."  

Arwen shut the door and stood in front of it.  "So sorry, but I'd not go in there if I were you."

            "Now Darling, I know you don't like my treatment, but-"

            "She has the most terrible case of eczema right now and it's dreadfully contagious.  In fact, you should probably stay away from me as well.  I might be infected.  It's the worst I've ever seen!  I had no idea it was possible to get both rashes and blisters, not to mention that skin discoloration."

            Galadriel paled.  Her eyes twitched.  She dropped her tube of face cleanser as she stumbled backwards.

            "Eczema!  You!" she screamed in distress, "You stay away from me!  Oh, I can see the blisters forming already!  Eating up all of your skin!  Threatening your very existence!"  Her eyes grew wider.  "You are turning orange!!!  Oh, put a towel on it!  I cannot look!  It is a plague, Darling, a plague!  I cannot save you!  On, keep it away!  I cannot be exposed to this!  Oh, keep it away!"  She turned and pounding along the passage she whipped around the corner to her room and slammed the door.  

            Arwen squealed, barely able to keep a squeal of laughter inside her lips.  When her mental laughing fit subsided, she descended down the stairs to see if Estel had finally found sanctuary in his room.  The door was closed, so she knocked and opened the door.

            "Miss Galadri-"  Estel saw who it was.  "Oh, it's you.  You might as well come in."

            "Thank you."  She stepped in and Estel quickly shut the door behind her.  Yet again she was incorrect in her predictions about the boy.  For though a sword and shield still hung above his wardrobe and it was still in a state of disarray, it was nothing like the room of the seven year old she had left.  There were three holes in the wall.  A large bow fit with a dull-pointed arrow sat in the corner.  His Gil-Galad superhero comforters had been replaced with a neon green one with the giant picture of a dwarf in the middle of it.  The dwarf had spiky orange hair that stuck up on the top of his head.  His beard had been parted into three pointed sections.  Various nose, tongue, eyebrow, and ear piercing added to his unagreeability.  A poster of the same dwarf, along with four others equally wild in appearance, was tacked to the wall by his window with The Weasles written along the bottom.

            "Who on Middle-Earth are they?" Arwen asked, letting disapproval show in her voice.

            "Who are they?" Estel repeated, as though it was the dumbest question ever asked, "Only the best band in the entire universe!  The Weasles rock!"  He bounced over to the poster, pointing to the dwarf with the spiky orange hair.  "That's Igor.  And here are Blueknuckle, Pimpy, Dudog, and Fesloonadin."  He suddenly frowned.  "I asked Master Elrond if I could dye my hair orange, but he said no.  I don't think that he knows how."

            _Thank Elbereth, Arwen thought, _or else he might have let you_.  Estel was reapplying sticky bilberry juice on his face._

            "Grandma Galadriel will only make you take it off again," Arwen warned.

            "No she won't!  You're back!  That means she will leave.  She said she would only stay until you returned and then she would go back to Lothlorien!  Thank Elbereth."  Arwen was surprised to hear such an elvish term from his lips.

            "I once tried to fake sick like Master Elrond," he continued, "But it didn't work.  She caught me out in the garden shooting arrows and knew that I didn't really have a cold.  But what a relief!  I hardly even remember not having her around!  Perhaps she has already gone!"

            Arwen shook her head but said nothing.  She knew Galadriel well enough to know that she would never stand for an unacknowledged departure.

            The time before Arwen woke Celebrian for supper she spent sitting on Estel's bed, listening to all of his accounts of what had happened in the past years.  It seemed that he had been involved in most of the action and the creator of nearly all of it.  A few incidents involved Estel jumping out a window into the bushes below and spraining his wrists and ankles.  One of the more exciting was an account of his rescue of a highly attractive elf girl who had fallen off a waterfall and nearly lost her life to the razor sharp rocks at the bottom.  If not all accurate, they were quite entertaining and they almost missed the dinner bell.

            Outside the hall they passed Galadriel going the other direction.  She yelped as she brushed Celebrian's shoulder.

            "You cannot go in there!" she said in a panicky voice, "You'll infect everyone!"

            Arwen smiled.  "You needn't worry.  It seems that it was nothing but a false alarm and both of us are just fine!" 

            Galadriel stared at them, looking them over for rashes and blisters.  Eventually she sighed with relief, seeming satisfied.

            "Well, what do you know!  That's lovely, Darlings.  I'll see you in the dining hall, then!"

*All right, I hope you enjoyed it!  More chapters will be coming soon, I promise.*

ringspell


	3. Stories in the Dining Hall

*Don't tell me that I'm slow.  I already know that.  If you will remember, the dinner bell at Rivendell had just rung and Arwen had a brush in with Galadriel as she headed towards the dining hall.  Well, here it is.*

Chapter 3: Ironic Though it Seemed

            In the dining hall Celebrian was the center of attention.  She sat at the head of the table with Estel and, to everyone's delight, Elrond.  Sitting five seats down and across the way, Arwen looked on with the rest of the elves as he stood to greet them.

            "My dear elves!  It is good to be well again!  I am so glad I can again eat with all of you!  And joining us once again is my dear Celebrian, whom my sons and daughter have courageously rescued from the band of Mordor-spawn."  There were cheers all down the table.  A few people patted Arwen on the back.

            "On a sadder note," Elrond continued, "I have an announcement regarding our dear friend Galadriel.  Though her original plan was to leave when Celebrian came back, I would have been happy to allow her to stay longer.  However, due to some sort of eczema outbreak which she feels vulnerable to, it is her decision to leave immediately.  I, for one, know that I shall miss her dearly.  But it is-"

            "Wait Elrond, darling, I have something to say!" Galadriel stood up at the other end of the table.  All heads turned to look at her expectantly.

            "Although it is true that I wished to leave because of this horrendous outbreak, I have just received word that the information was false, and I no longer need to worry.  Though it is true, I have been away from home a long while and Celeborn is missing me, I feel a duty to stay here and carry our young Estel through his rebellious age.  I therefore accept Elrond's offer to stay a few more years."  Galadriel beamed.  Arwen could see everyone groan inwardly.  The response was slow and the clapping was somewhat less enthusiastic than it had been before.  Estel clutched his fork, looking ready to fling it across the table.  Elrond looked stricken.  He opened and closed his mouth, trying to pull his thoughts together.

            "My dear Galadriel!" he finally managed.  "That is a very-very generous offer.  But surely you are not implying that I cannot control the children of my house?"

            "I am implying nothing of the sort!" Galadriel said, as though offended, "though you will remember when Arwen was being potty-trained-"

            "Grandma Galadriel!"

            "-didn't really want to learn and made that quite clear with a demonstration.  Took hours to clean up-"

            "Mother!" Celebrian said sharply, "In Rivendell such matters are not to be discussed around the table, nor are such things spoken of around the table of Lorien if I remember correctly.  Might I also point out that during that incident Arwen was with you in Lothlorien."  

            "Quite right she was!" Galadriel exploded, "After that she took a skinny dip into my mirror and, well, that was nearly disastrous-"

            "GRANDMOTHER!" Arwen stood, knocking down her chair.  Her cheeks were burning.  "That is enough!  Sit down and be silent if you still expect a friendly welcome!"  Arwen's clenched fists must have intimidated Galadriel because she sat down quickly.

            "Now, in the name of Elbereth, let us eat!"

            "Hear, hear!" cried Estel and dove into the plate nearest to him.

            Though many elves giggled about the confrontation, dinner continued as it usually did.  Arwen spoke to all the people she hadn't seen for the past few years, getting more accurate information on what had been happening.  Again, Estel seemed to be the center of the action.  It seemed he had left out many details, including being grounded from his bow and arrow for three months after shooting it at a visiting hobbit, who had thankfully been wearing a mithril coat, therefore managing to escape harm.  There had also been a few incidents in which he'd tried to paint the halls neon green but was caught early enough for the process to be stopped.

            "What about his room?" Arwen asked one of her friends, an elf named Hisilome.

            "What about it?  Master Elrond will not do anything about it.  He is quite lenient with Estel.  One would question which one of them was the child.  He wants Estel to be happy, even if it means letting him run wild."

            "But the walls!  There are holes in the walls!"

            "Oh, we know.  Don't worry.  We mend those at the end of the day."

            "You mean-"

            "You'll get used to the routine.  Really, it's not that terrible.

            Arwen looked across the table to where Estel was sitting.  He was engaged in a conversation with Elrond and Arwen noticed that her father addressed the teen as 'Lord Estel.'  She made a face.

            "He actually calls him that?"

            Hisilome shook her head helplessly.  "Yes.  Like I said, he likes to keep her happy."  Arwen finished her meal in pondering silence.

            Before she left the table, Arwen peeked over at Estel again to see how he and Celebrian were getting along.  Estel must have been telling a story because he was gesticulating wildly and Celebrian was laughing.  The boy stopped and seemed to make an inquiry and Arwen's mother nodded.  To Arwen's horror, she reached for the strawberry jam.  In slow motion, it seemed, Celebrian lifted the jar and began to pull it towards her.  Arwen didn't stop to think.

            "Noooooooooooooooooooo!" she cried and she slid across the table on her stomach, crashing into the plates of many startled elves.  She grabbed the jar and tried to yank it away.  "You cannot Mother!  You see, he's-"

            "What is wrong, love?" Celebrian asked bemusedly, still holding tight to the jar.  "I need some jam for my biscuits!"

            Arwen stared.  "Oh," she said, slowly letting go and blushing furiously.  "Sorry, Mother.  I…just thought-"

            "You needn't worry about that anymore, Lady Arwen," Estel stated glumly, "I probably won't be asking for something sweet anytime soon.  Now sugar makes me break out it hives instead of giving me energy.  I guess it is some sort of medical capriciousness.  Last year I ate one seed cake and swelled to the size of an overweight oliphaunt.  Took a while to figure out what had done it, of course, but-"

            "What are you two talking about?"  Celebrian asked.

            "Just do not give his any sort of sugar," Arwen sighed, pulling herself off of the messy table and pulling a piece of beef off of her sleeve, "and consider yourself lucky that  you did not have to witness its past effects."

            Then she marched out of the door, trying to feel dignified despite her food-stained clothing.  But when she got to her room she couldn't help but laugh at the thought of young Estel's face swelling up and the reaction it would draw from dear old Grandma Galadriel.

*Sorry if I bored you.  It was not the most action-packed chapter.  In chapter 4 the fun begins.*


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